2 adults, a very spoilt cat and a caravan following the sun….

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So, I am now into day 10 of my yoga training and it’s getting pretty intensive. Lots to remember and lots of homework. What you need is a calm, relaxed environment to come home to and sit quietly in whilst letting everything you have learnt from that day trickle through.

Unfortunately life ‘chez Bessie’ is far from calm and relaxing at the moment but last night really took the biscuit.

Molly is still poorly and so when I returned from the course yesterday we took the decision to return to the vets. Her appetite had gone again so no chance of getting the antibiotics into her and she still hadn’t urinated since Sunday morning despite drinking lots of water.

We loaded up Molly into her cat basket grabbed a few oranges and some water to eat and set off. Half way there I realised I had forgotten to put our documents in my handbag. In Spain it is compulsory to have your passports on you at all times and when in the car you need you insurance policy and breakdown cover. As I have been going up and down to yoga I have been putting them into my yoga bag (which is very full!) and then transferring them to my handbag when needs be but in the rush to get out I had forgotten. I brushed it off and thought no more of it – how wrong could I have been!!!!

We got to the vet which thankfully was a lot quieter than on Monday and we were seen within about 15 minutes. The vet we saw before examined Molly again and said her bladder was full but not worryingly so. She called her colleague in for a second opinion as she seemed a little flummoxed as to why things were obviously not working as well as they should be. After 5 days of not going to the toilet her bladder should have been very full. Her colleague also thought the situation was strange and it was decided that we should return with Molly for an ultrasound so they could get a better picture of what is going on. The appointment was made for 6pm Thursday night and so we left.

We got back in the car relieved that we hadn’t spent that long in the vets and that we would soon be home and DISASTER, the car wouldn’t start. We immediately thought the battery was dead and went back into the vets to see if they could jump-start us (we always have the leads in the back as we have been caught out before with other cars!). The receptionist came out and drove the vets van across, we set the leads up and nothing…….. so not the battery. We now realised that we needed to phone our breakdown cover BUT all the information was back at the campsite as I had forgotten it!! I stepped out the car for a moment whilst hubby composed himself!! and then we tried to work out what to do. Luckily my yoga bag was in the awning and so if we could get hold of one of our English neighbours then he could get it and give us the details. But we didn’t have his number! Luckily we did have the number for the campsite and so back into the vets to see if they could phone and explain the situation to Maria on the campsite reception; she speaks no English and our grasp of Spanish does not go beyond speaking face to face at the moment.

10 minutes later we had our neighbour Eric on the phone and within another 5 minutes we had the information we needed. Hubby then trotted off to ring the UK and organise our rescue. He returned 10 minutes later having sorted it out. Within 40 minutes the recovery vehicle was with us and after a bit of investigation work he determined that we would have to be towed to the garage about 5 minutes away. It was about 7.30 by now but he said the garage would still be open – thank goodness that they work a lot later here than in the UK.

Hubby and I clambered into the front of the truck balancing Molly and her cat basket on our knees and so began the first white knuckle ride of the evening. Not to be rude but Spanish drivers are ***p!! They drive very fast, brake rarely and always at the last possible moment and have a habit of doing anything other than concentrate on the job in hand – ie driving. Our very jolly recovery man drove us at break neck speed whilst also trying to do something on his mobile phone and read off his clipboard at the same time. Needless to say that we were grateful to arrive at the garage in one piece.

The owner of the garage – Juan spoke perfect English and after a quick discussion between him and hubby they had narrowed down the possibilities of the problem. They also ordered a taxi, part of the cover to get us home. After another wait of about 20 minutes to taxi driver arrived in a very posh car with leather seats!!

Unfortunately he got off on the wrong foot with me as he wanted to put Molly in the BOOT!! Em, ok I know several words and phrases in Spanish now but how about this one – NO!!

So, a few minutes later with Molly and I in the back seat and hubby up front we set off on the 30 minute journey home.

Now I have been to Alton Towers and Blackpool Pleasure Beach, I have sampled the highest rollercoaster in the world and jumped out of a plane but nothing compared to the next half hour. Hurtling along with his seat belt warning signal beeping like crazy because typically he wasn’t wearing it I felt like my heart was in my mouth. Then we hit the auto route. It’s scary enough driving on these in your own car as the Spanish have a well honed knack for driving as close to your bumper as is humanly possible, over taking and then cutting back in so quickly that you are lucky if you survive the manoeuvre with all your paint still intact. I’m not sure why but he felt the need to drive at 120mph with his window open so we were being buffeted around like mad. Molly was getting more distressed by the minute and I found myself evilly hoping that she would have the urge to empty her bladder on his leather seats – either that or I would.

We made it to our turn off and then began the journey up to our campsite. The road up is windy with lots of hairpin bends and it soon became apparent that no-one had told our driver that it was best to drive on the right side of the road! He took every corner on the wrong side and in 4th gear it felt. There are a lot of stray dogs around and at one point a puppy ran across the road in front of the car. Most normal sane people would slow down if they saw an animal in their path but no he kept going and how the puppy escaped being hit I don’t know. Molly had her paw in my hand by this stage and I really can’t say who was comforting who??

I have never been more relieved to see the campsite and exit a car. Molly meowed solidly when we got in and then later in the evening had a panic attack which I am sure was brought on by the journey home.

She slept on the bed with us all night and this morning seems a little better. She is still not eating but has at last been to the toilet so we are focusing all our positiveness on her getting better.

Hopefully the car will be fixed today, if not we will have to organise for a hire car for tomorrow as we need to get back to the vet Thursday evening for Molly to have her scan.

Driving aside the breakdown cover actually worked really well and we didn’t have to wait to long for any part of it. It is reassuring to know that it worked so well as breaking down is bad enough let along in a foreign country. It is also a good opportunity for hubby to practice letting go of a problem. If we were back in the UK he would have insisted on fixing the car himself but here he has no choice but to let the garage sort it for us. Less stress all around!!